A slightly acidic space for commentary, mixed with sweet undertones of optimism, and occasionally garnished with a cherry of insight.
Pample the Moose is the blog of Matthew Hayday, an associate professor in the History Department at the University of Guelph. The assorted musings here are his, and do not reflect the positions of the university.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

A superficial stache-related post

Disclaimer: I have voted NDP in the past, and will likely do so again in the future.

That being said, this post on my sister's blog made me split my side laughing. She's not the first member of my left-leaning immediate family to have commented on Jack Layton's moustache. Another family member pointed out that there hasn't been a Canadian or American leader in recent memory to win election to the government benches with their facial hair intact.

Yes, it's superficial, and yes, Canadians should be thinking about the issues, rather than being distracted by image. But politicians should also be practical. If shaving the stache will win a few more seats, isn't it worth considering? If he can shed the godawful NDP orange clothing for the Quebec leader's debates, surely a bit of sub-nasal fuzz could be trimmed as well?

I'm thinking that I should probably watch the debates about 40 minutes from now. I'm clearly becoming more and more crotchety the longer this campaign drags on, and need to re-focus on the issues. I'm just not convinced that I can stomach it if the English debate also features the "say something nice about the person to your left" question.